


Study Buddies

by azureheavens



Series: Being my friend is very sexy of you [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Hilda disagrees, I will put as many other cast members as possible in this series, In which Claude thinks talking politics counts as flirting, Pining, Romantic Friendship, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Somehow this one is more serious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2020-12-14 21:28:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21022532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azureheavens/pseuds/azureheavens
Summary: “It doesn’t have to follow us if we don’t want it to,” he had said, an easy smile on his lips.What could it hurt? Turned out Claude was an excellent kisser.But keeping up with a boyfriend, her studies, and a life-threatening mission at the end of each month? Yuck! Hilda was sure she didn’t have the stamina.





	Study Buddies

**Author's Note:**

> I've been thinking about how and when to update this nonstop since my first fic. As I plan this series I'm settled on maybe like? 12 entries total?? Goddess help me
> 
> Also I removed the detail about the Battle of the Eagle and the Lion from pt 1 since it threw off my timeline. Pt 1 now takes place before Lenato's rebellion, and this one is before the Gautier Inheritance. Next one will jump right to the Heron Cup, then off to the time skip :^)

Hilda had been curious about Claude for a long time. Everyone else seemed to focus on how strange it was for House Riegan to have an heir pop out of thin air, but that’s not what interested her. Always nonchalant and in control, Claude was completely impervious to her usual song and dance. He was at once so close yet distant, something she could honestly relate to.

Still, Hilda had trouble making sense of him. She couldn’t coo and compliment him like others, so she would have to find a way to outsmart her sneaky little friend. If her usual technique wouldn’t get Claude to budge, then maybe she’d had to try something different. He didn’t expect that she’d plant on one him. She didn’t even mean anything by it, but a sneak attack would be the only way to break his guard.

But he tricked her right back, catching her waist and holding her against the wall. Leaning casually, staring down at her with those clever green eyes, his hand gripping her hip. “It doesn’t have to follow us if we don’t want it to,” he had said, an easy smile on his lips.

What could it hurt? Turned out Claude was an excellent kisser.

Then Professor Byleth interrupted and ruined the mood. Hilda came back to her senses, realizing what little it did for her to get mixed up with him. And now she had to deal with this “favor” she owed Claude for leaving the rest of the stables for him to clean.

That was weeks ago. Days of training crawled by with Byleth pairing Claude and Hilda together nearly every week. They did everything! Pulled weeds, patrolled the skies, cleaned up the mess hall. What’s worse, Claude actually made her work! He didn’t call on his favor, just split the work evenly, showed her to her half, and then barely bothered with her until he was done. They still chatted, and they spent plenty of time alone, but it was like the stables never happened at all.

The real let down was she couldn’t use the same tactic, now that Claude adopted “Not even if you kissed me,” as his smirking comeback.

But she didn’t _want_ anything to happen. Keeping up with a boyfriend, her studies, _and_ a life-threatening mission at the end of each month? Yuck! Talk about a juggling act. Hilda was sure she didn’t have the stamina.

Claude _was_ a friend, to her relief. A cute one at that. Claude still treated her like he always did, though his carefree flirting took a different tone. If anything, her little whim to show him up brought them closer. Around him, she didn’t have to worry about pretenses and expectations. Joking around and rolling his eyes at his schemes felt like second nature. She could just. Be.

Of course, she would have to stuff those butterflies deep down when his hand brushed hers. Way, _way_ deep down.

Tonight was something she couldn’t excuse herself from. She had complained about how the lectures made no sense to her, then suddenly she was playing host to a study group in her own room. At least this way she didn’t have to trek up twenty thousand stairs to sit in some stuffy library: Ignatz, Leonie, and Claude came to her instead. And Claude debunked all her excuses before she could make them, so she had no choice but to stick around.

She sat by herself on the edge of her bed, a pillow and an unopened book across her lap. Leonie sat backward on the desk chair, armed with scribbled on papers and little else. Ignatz was propped up on the floor, quill scratching away in his notebook.

Claude built himself a mini fort on the floor of papers and tomes that had nothing to do with what they were studying. He still managed to chime in with an accurate statement or question. It was weird to Hilda how someone with a shady reputation could have his nose stuck in so many books. She chalked it up to one of the things that made them too different…

“Wow, Ignatz,” Leonie’s voice cut through Hilda’s thoughts. “You keep such detailed notes.”

Ignatz looked up, startled. His glasses almost fell to the ground, but he caught it just in time “Oh, thank you. I’ve been having trouble keeping up with all the lectures, so I’ve been trying to make up for it outside of class. They’re still scattered and messy, but...”

Hilda’s ears perked. “Really? Can I see?” She leaned to the side, glancing over her classmate’s shoulder. Perfect penmanship and detailed diagrams filled his leather notebook. It was nearly as exact as Lysithea’s. “Oh, wow indeed! It’s like I’m reading from the textbook itself!”

“Careful there, Ignatz.” Claude leaned forward, closing the book in his hand around his thumb. His eyes were on Hilda for a split second, then turned away. “Soon she’s going to ask if she can borrow your notes, then she’ll make you copy it all again save her poor, overworked wrists.”

“Claude, please! I was just admiring Ignatz’s handiwork.”

Leonie hid a chuckle. “Maybe you could think of it as inspiration for your own notes? I definitely should do the same.” She held up her notes apologetically. “My writing looks more like chicken scratch, and I understand better with demonstrations than lectures...”

Ignatz looked from Hilda to Leonie, thinking. “Actually, if you need me to, I wouldn’t mind it at all. Maybe rewriting everything in a more concise way would help commit it to memory?”

Hilda beamed at him. “Aw, really? That’d be perfect! You’re such a sweetheart to offer.” 

“A sweetheart, or a sucker?” mused Claude, shaking his head. “Just make sure you at least charge for your services. One page of expertly crafted notes for, say, five hundred gold.”

Leonie flinched as if an arrow whizzed over her head. “Whoa! If that’s what you’d charge, I’m better off doing the notes myself…”

“That _is_ rather expensive,” Ignatz trailed off.

Claude’s smile broadened. “Factor in labor and time, my friend! If people want to skip out on slogging through a lecture, they still need to pay a price somehow.”

“Okay, okay, let’s just all settle down,” Hilda chided the group, playing the mother hen. “Might as well get this studying over with so we can get on with our real lives.” She looked at the book in her lap, finally reading the cover. “Out of the Goddess’s Hands: Why other countries resist the teachings of Seiros.” _Snore_, she thought, wrinkling her nose. _More blathering like Seteth’s lectures._

Claude reacted like some pungent smell hit him smack in the face. In an instant, the look was gone. Ignatz held up his notebook closer to his glasses. “I believe that book was listed in our supplemental reading. But in all honesty, I thought the lecture itself fascinating. Hearing about some of the belief systems that came before ours really made me think about the lives people used to lead.”

“I suppose so,” Hilda said, holding out the book at an angle. “But Seteth made it all sound so terrible. I pretty much daydreamed the whole time.”

“You can look at my notes if you like,” Ignatz said, smiling and offering his notebook. “Granted, most are on all the differences to the teachings of the Goddess. I don’t think much else was covered.” Hilda gracefully accepted his notebook, but she wasn’t really interested. That’s all the lecture seemed to be about, as if anyone at Garreg Mach could ignore the Church of Seiros.

Leonie scratched her head, looking at her papers. “So, what about that study question? ‘Why would other cultures not accept the teachings of Seiros?’ Do they even cover enough for us to answer that?”

“Well,” Ignatz mused, “Seteth spoke about what made them different, but I don’t think anyone explained why they were different…”

Silence filled the room as the students tried to think of something, anything, for a real answer. Hilda sure wasn’t going to try to guess: these things were always the farthest from her mind. She liked singing the hymns during Saints Days, but that’s about as far as her faith went.

“…Probably because their cultures are just too different from that it wouldn’t make sense to them at all.”

Everyone looked immediately at Claude, who shrugged casually. His smile was in place, but his eyes were sharp and focused. “Think of it: even for as long as the church has been around, other countries existed before it. If someone came along saying you’ve been living your own life all wrong, you wouldn’t accept it either.”

Leonie raised a brow. “That makes some sense, but with the Goddess watching over us, Fodlan has become all lush and green, right? ”

Claude’s head bobbed, considering this. “You could look at it that way, but places like Brigid have just as much green. Though you probably couldn’t put Almyra on that list…” He leaned forward, bracing one on his knee and waving his hand around. “Besides, they assigned that question without telling us enough to give a full answer. If Almyra resists the church of Serios enough to keep fighting over Fodlan’s Locket, then we can assume their beliefs and culture would be the exact opposite of ours. Maybe they even believe there’s more than one god, so why would our Goddess be so special?”

Oh great, now _Claude_ was giving a lecture. “Is that something _else_ you overheard at home, von Riegan?” Hilda teased, stretching her arms. “Are the Almyrans themselves whispering secrets in your ear?”

After a moment, Claude shrugged. “Well, all I ever get is hearsay, remember? And what I glean from the library, but you have to dig to find anything substantial.”

Big words… As much as she loved talking with Claude, he put too much effort into hypotheticals than reality. When he got like this, it was hard to banter with him. Maybe if they were alone, she could pull the conversation in a totally different direction…

Claude eyed her as if he sensed her losing interest. “What do you think, Hilda? You’ve probably spent the most time around Almyrans out of anyone here.”

Hilda pursed her lips. “Me? Yeah, right. All my experiences are stories I’ve heard from my father and brother, about all the trouble they cause us. What would I even talk about?” She sighed, fiddling with the pillow in her lap. “Maybe if one would put down their sword and stop to chat, but I doubt it. _That_ happening would be a true miracle.”

Ignatz brought his quill to the corner of his mouth, thinking. “You know, if we did want to ask about Almyra, why not Cyril? A-although, the other day I offered to help with his chores so I could ask him about that. He seemed angry when I did…”

“Right?” chirped Hilda, excited to have something she _could_ talk about. “Cyril is always so cold. He told me to just get out of his way when all I did was ask where they keep fodder for the horses!”

Claude, giving up on rerouting the topic, tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Yeah, I can see what you both mean. Even I have trouble getting Cyril to open up,” he muttered. “I hoped out of anyone, I could.”

Leonie chuckled quietly in embarrassment. “That’s better than what I can say... I don’t get a chance to talk to Cyril at all, and my village is nowhere near the mountains. I wouldn’t know how to start a conversation, let alone the first thing about Almyra.”

Claude perked up, the smile returning to his face. “Worry not, Leonie. That’s easy enough to fix.” He tossed a book haphazardly to Leonie. She had to lurch forward, but she caught it underhanded. “That book is the best I found on Almyran culture. It may not be completely useful for this assignment, but extra credit is always nice.”

Leonie nodded appreciatively and began leafing through the pages. Hilda looked at the notebook in her hands, shrugged, and returned it to Ignatz with thanks.

Right at that moment, a knock came at the door, bringing Ignatz to his feet to answer. Their visitor wore their same uniform with a pale yellow shall draped over her shoulders. “Oh! Hello, Mercedes,” Ignatz said.

“Good evening, Ignatz,” Mercedes replied cheerily, strangely out of breath. She leaned from left to right to peek inside the room, smiling at them all. “Are you four having a study group? I’ll have to ask to join for next time!”

“Mercie, a pleasure to see you!” Claude chimed, getting to his feet. “How’s our newly christened Golden Deer doing today?”

Mercedes covered a giggle with her hand. “I’m doing wonderfully! I just returned from helping in the greenhouse, mending some dish rags, sweeping the stables, giving directions to an older gentleman…”

Hilda, stunned, shook her head. “Mercedes, you work _way_ too hard!” In that way, she was too much like the professor. How in the Goddess’s name did she get surrounded by busybodies? “How many of those tasks were even assigned to you today?”

“Oh, just gardening. However, once I got started, I came across many people who needed help. Before I knew it, it was almost dinner!”

“Hold on!” Leonie exclaimed with widened eyes. “Is that how late it is?!” She sprung to her feet, still holding Claude’s book.

“Yes,” Mercedes said with a nod. “The professor asked me to find you all, and I heard from Cyril you were all in Hilda’s room tonight.”

Ignatz snatched up his supplies into his arms. “From Cyril? It looks like he opens up to you at least…”

Satisfied, Hilda clapped her hands. “Well class, it looks like our study group is finally over. Shall we head to the dining hall together?” Their group voiced agreement, each gathering their belongings. Hilda was just about to stand when-

“Actually,” Claude interrupted, his palm pressed to his forehead. “Why don’t you three go on ahead? I have some unfinished business to discuss with Hilda.”

Leonie cocked her head. “Unfinished business?”

Hilda gaped at Claude, but he paid her no mind. “Oh, it’s nothing major,” he said. “Now go and nourish those hungry young minds! You’ll barely notice we’re not there.”

Confused but compliant, Ignatz, Leonie, and Mercedes bid them goodbye and shuffled out the door. Leonie had just started to ask Ignatz for a peek at his notes before their voices drifted further down the hall.

Hilda pursed her lips, pouting at her friend. “Why are you making me stay behind? You’re usually the first one to grab a seat for dinner, besides Raphael.”

“Ah, true, very true,” Claude said, his eyes dancing. He motioned to his book fort with an open hand. “But as you can see, I have quite the personal library set up in your bedroom. I was hoping to cash in on that favor and make you carry every single book back to Tomas tonight.”

Hilda groaned, rolled her eyes, and flopped sideways on the bed. She lay on her back and propped up her feet where her head should be, balancing one foot on top of another. The pillow stayed on her lap, keeping her skirt from showing off too much. “Please, _please_ tell me you’re joking.”

Claude laughed, a forced sound. “Of course, I am. Would I use such a precious favor on something you’d never do?”

“You’re right, I’d never do that.” She paused before giving him a wicked look. “Not even if you kissed me.” That earned her an approving smile. Growing impatient, she huffed and chose to stare at the wall. “I can’t believe you’re still holding on to that favor. What happened last month was forever ago.”

“…By ‘last month’ you mean two months ago? Though I guess things have been nonstop since the year started.”

“See? Exactly! By now, that favor is basically ancient history…”

History she couldn’t forget, admittedly. The light peering in from the front of the barn, the sun casting them in shadow. Deep green eyes looking her up and down, trying to make sense of her.

Then Claude had kissed her, at first so casual, then insistent. It felt too easy to let him set the pace, to just enjoy the feel of his mouth on hers. She had even run her hands through his hair to lock him in place like she worried he would fly away on the wind…

She might have even let herself fly away with him.

Maybe it was better to let nothing happen, to stay friends. Sure, they would have fun, but that distance lingered between them. She just couldn’t see why someone would get so hung up on political details, not when they didn’t need to worry yet. At some point that distance would grow larger, and then she would be the one carried off by the breeze.

“You know…” came his voice. “I _have_ been thinking of a better use for that favor.”

A shadow fell over her. Claude’s face appeared above her, his hands braced on the bed close to her shoulders. Startled, Hilda held his gaze, a strange but familiar heat rising in her stomach. Distance or no, his face was awfully close to hers, his smile crooked and confident. Her grip tightened on the pillow in her lap. She hoped Claude wouldn’t notice.

“Is that so?” she asked softly, matching his smile with a blithe one of her own. “Is there actually something you can’t manage on your own?”

Claude gave a small shrug, leaning in closer. “I could manage it, or maybe I won’t have to. It depends on how much you want to cooperate.”

“Still…” Hilda bit her lip. “What could you need me for?”

His shoulders shook in a silent laugh, but he said nothing. His eyes darted to her mouth, hesitating, before lowering his face to hers. What happened to “let nothing happen?” What happened to “better off as friends?”

She didn’t care. Hilda leaned her head back, closing her eyes.

A breath trailed from just over her mouth to her ear. Shivers flooded her body. “Sorry,” He said, quiet and playful, “but I think I’ll keep holding on to that favor for now.”

“Huh?” Hilda breathed, feeling betrayed.

“As I said, it’s precious to me. I have to wait for the right moment to present itself.” Claude raised himself from Hilda’s ear, now the picture of amicability. “I’ll come for the books after dinner,” he announced, tweaking her nose. _Trust me,_ it told her, like when the professor almost caught them behind the stable.

But she started to wonder if she wanted to trust him. “You tease…” she accused.

Claude only winked.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic sorta turned into “casual blasphemy in bible study” but I’m too fascinated with each character’s varying belief in the church AND their attitudes about Almyra. The others in this series would be less political (maybe). We’ll get back to smooching soon enough


End file.
